San Andreas

This film stars Dwayne Johnson as a Los Angeles Fire Department search and rescue pilot. When a critical shift in the San Andreas fault takes place resulting in a series of massive earthquakes and almost total devastation along the West Coast of the USA, the predictable storyline unfolds…

Brad’s estranged wife Emma (Carla Guggionio) is caught up in the disaster as is their only daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) who is under the care of Emma’s ‘new man’ in a journey across the city.

As the building crumbles around her, totally spoiling her roof top lunch with Kylie Minogue, Emma calls the only person she knows who can help her and locate their daughter. While Emma is rescued, Blake does not fare so well abandoned in a car in a collapsed building she has to rely on two (English) brothers to rescue her and try to make their way to safety. The worsening situation (can it get worse than total destruction of two cities?) provides the platform for the remarkable special effects and the journey to survive.

I watched this film at an Odeon cinema with my husband and son. I was quite comfortable but they both complained about the comfort of the seats and close inspection did reveal htose that were well ‘bottomed’ and clearly past their best. You have to wonder though how the owners can do much about improving the environment when only 12 people attend the prime showing of a film on opening night (28/5/15).

I must also pass comment on the price and quality of the popcorn. It’s marketed as fresh but apparently it’s bought ready popped in huge bags. Sometimes I have known it to taste quite stale (perhaps after several night of only 12 people going to the cinema). We bought the salted variety but in truth it is not the same as it used to be when you had the option of having melted butter added. I believe two things brought that to an end:

Health and Safety gone mad again. It became an issue for staff to be responsible for heating the butter and adding it to the popcorn without burning/scalding themselves.

…and this is related to the first point, people complained that the popcorn was soggy after the butter was added. From my experience I believe that this was because the butter wasn’t heated to a high enough temperature, so some water/condensation remained in the butter vat and got transferred to the popcorn.

Of course, there could be other reasons but I like to believe I’m right! We bought Tango to drink. Nothing worse than drinking a gallon of cola at the cinema and then not being able to sleep. Anyway, point made about the quality of the popcorn; potentially stale and way too salty (bet it breaches guidelines for healthy salt intake which I believe is 6g daily). Back to the price. A large combo which is not as large as it used to be, was about £10. So, the trip to the cinema for three of us was £42. If we had done without the snacks it would have been just £12 but they have to pay for those new seats right?

Did I enjoy the film? Yes, I did. The storyline was predictable but the special effects were outstanding and must have cost about the same as a small country. However, it was trueescapism and if like me you can take a film at face value and not unpick it too much, it’s worth seeing. KK